I was reading through the New Testament letters recently, and it struck me that the prayers Paul (and Peter and John) pray for the newly founded churches would also be amazing things to pray over kids growing in faith.

I’m a terrible typist, and a lot of the time autocorrect aids and abets my stupidity.

Most recently, it disagreed with me about my friend’s daughter’s name. My dear friend was blessed with a beautiful daughter she named Taryn, and as you would expect, absolute flurries of texting ensued. But it seemed that no matter how I typed “Taryn,” auto correct morphed it into “Terrible.”

As in, “What a beautiful pic of Terrible! What a doll!”

Or, “How did Terrible sleep last night?”

One thing you DON’T want to call your BFF’s beloved adopted infant is Terrible. (Good thing my sweet friend is so understanding!) Because of this, I began to notice other funny goofs autocorrect and I were making together:

One of the top New Year’s resolutions on every Christian’s list is to spend more time with God. We want to improve the quantity or the quality of our devotional time—or both!

I know it’s one of my top resolutions every year… and it will be until I die. We can never spend too much time with God, or focus on Him too closely! But we can (and should) feel satisfied after our devotional time with Him. We should feel full of His peace and presence, and ready to tackle what’s next.

Of course, our enemy wants to pull us away from any close time with God. He throws anything he can in our way… especially those whirling negative thoughts that I call Spiritual Clutter. Unfortunately for him, we can use a little organization to clear out the mess in our heads and make room for God’s peace.

This summer, my teen son wanted to pursue a goal. He made a great plan and decided to work on it for 15 minutes each day.

I wanted to encourage him, so I offered to help him set up some reminders. “Do you want me to print out a calendar so you can mark off each day?” I asked hopefully. “Or would you like me to buy you a little planner so you can keep track of what you’ve done? Do you want to start the process today?”

I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.

(vs. 93)

Think it through

It took me an embarrassingly long time to read every word of the Bible. I started in elementary school with Genesis 1:1, gung-ho and ready to go, only to lose it in Numbers. In middle school, I started again and was out by Judges; in High School, by II Chronicles. In college I started a “Read the Bible in One Year” plan and fell hopelessly behind by the end of March.

My “big present” last Christmas, the gift my husband and kids chipped in to get me, was a Natural Daylight Alarm Clock. (If you’re not familiar with these, they are cool.*)

This clock is really helping me get up in the morning, something I’m not so good at doing! The box said that it works with your body’s natural rhythms, and I think it truly does. The light slowly gets brighter and brighter until my alarm “goes off” with the sounds of chirping birds. I didn’t think the birds would be enough to wake me (I’m the kind of person who incorporates the song playing on a radio alarm into my dreams), but the light has me all primed to wake up and my eyes open at the first little chirp.

When I wake up to the warm light and the sound of birds chirping, I feel like Cinderella.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.”

Luke 10:41&42a

So, we cleared up in Part One that Martha absolutely should have put down her cleaning supplies and sat at the feet of Jesus with Mary. Mary chose the best thing, and we want to, as well—so we intentionally choose to enjoy quiet time with God every day.

But we know that even if Martha had been able to forget her chores and choose to be with Him, the chores would still be waiting. I have to wonder what would’ve happened if Martha had been able to do some of her chores and lean on the Lord at the same time.

“Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:42

I identify way too much with Martha of Martha-and-Mary fame. If you don’t know their story, then you can read about these lovely ladies in Luke 10. It’s a true story about two ladies, their chores, and their Lord.

Mary decided to stop doing her chores in order to sit at Jesus’ feet. She made herself be still, just soaking up Jesus’ presence and learning what He was trying to teach her. I truly admire Mary. She chose the best thing. Martha didn’t.

Like me, Martha was distracted by the need to do the chores. I’m sure she felt even more driven after Mary opted out—no wonder she was worried and upset!

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God…

Exodus 20:9&10a

By the time we hit the seventh day of the week, going church can feel like a “have to” rather than a “get to.” We’ve all woken up on a Sunday morning wishing we could stay in bed—but shouldn’t going to church be considerably more refreshing than an hour’s extra sleep?

God didn’t call Sunday a day of rest for nothing. The Sabbath isn’t about “not doing work” (at least not entirely—you can check out what I have to say about that in this post), it’s about resting in His presence and care.

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

-Luke 6:38

Have you ever dropped the ball on a friendship? A friend asks to spend time with you, but you forget to return their email. Their texts go unanswered. Soon they stop reaching out to you, and then it feels almost embarrassing to reach out to them…